[Sponsored By: Alyeska Resort]
Tucked into the northernmost rainforest in North America, Alyeska Resort sits above the town of Girdwood Alaska, about 45 miles South of Anchorage in the Chugach Mountain Range. Alyeska is one of those undiscovered gems in the ski world. It’s not the biggest or the baddest and doesn’t have that glitzy pro skier cred the way Squaw or Whistler does, but what it lacks in showboating it makes up for in hard core skiability. Alyeska averages over 669 inches each year at the summit, with some years cresting over 900 inches. Yep. 900 inches. That’s 75 feet, my friend. Those aren’t little numbers.
Alyeska Resort, Girdwood, Alaska:
669” of snow annually
3200 vertical feet
1600 acres of skiable terrain
Alyeska Resort is one of those places you’ll visit and want to immediately set up shop in. Maybe start looking at the employment ads before you go, just to be prepared. Alyeska and the town of Girdwood are what skiers imagine the ideal mountain town/resort combo to be: huge amounts of blower, silky smooth Alaskan pow, no massive crowds, some cool eating and drinking spots and endless opportunities for backcountry shredding. That and the fact that you are on the doorstep of some of the best heliskiing in the world makes it one of the best places to ski anywhere.
But the crown jewel at Alyeska has to be the resort’s North Face. Billed as the longest continuous double black diamond ski run in North America, it’s steps from the top of the Tram and offers up over 2000 vertical feet of big mountain shredding. If you don’t ski anything else when you’re there, you’ll still have had one of the best trips of your life.
Alyeska is one of the best places to ski in the world. It’s got that big mountain, Alaskan feel in the terrain, especially on the North Face and offers up some of the best skiing on the continent. Add to that the town of Girdwood is just plain cool. It’s got a relaxed, mountain feel to it with a little bit of an eclectic, hippie mix for good measure. But don’t take our word for it, pay them a visit and see for yourself.
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